Bay Hill lead for Laird

Scotland’s Martin Laird shot a round of 65 to emerge at the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Laird, who has been based in America since starring for Colorado State University, finished with four birdies in six holes to reach nine under par for the event at Bay Hill in Florida.

He holds a one-stroke lead at the halfway stage from first round leader Spencer Levin (70) and KJ Choi, who fired a flawless round-of-the-day 64.

There is then a gap of two shots back to four Americans on six under – Hunter Mahan, Charles Howell, Steve Marino and Vaughn Taylor.

But it was a day that belonged to Laird, who is looking to win his second tournament on the PGA Tour following his maiden success in Las Vegas in 2009.

His length off the tee proved vital as he covered the par-fives in five under par, holing a lengthy putt for eagle at the 16th – his seventh – before lipping out with his approach to the fourth.

He even made birdie from the rough at his final hole to clinch the outright lead on a day when the afternoon players capitalised on a dropping breeze.

“I had a couple of putts yesterday that looked really good and didn’t go in and today any putt that looked good went in, pretty much, with the exception of eight,” he said.

Howell matched Laird’s 65 to move into contention, both he and Choi eagling the 16th in addition to recording six birdies and a single dropped shot.

Revival

Tiger Woods once again showed signs of a revival with a round of 68 that included five birdies despite finding only six fairways.

The world number five, who has been successful at Bay Hill no fewer than six times, had only 26 putts but admitted he still struggled on the greens.

“I had a hard time getting the ball to the hole today,” he said. “I was very surprised how slow these things (the greens) were today.

“They must have soaked them pretty good last night because balls were holding, they were spinning back a little bit, very different than what we had yesterday.

“We are trying to build towards the first major and that’s kind of how my game is. It’s building and it’s coming.”

Woods is on three under par, six off the lead, alongside Spaniard Sergio Garcia, another player recovering his form after a spell in the doldrums.

Like Woods, Garcia followed an opening 73 with a round of 68 and admitted his game is starting to come together.

“It feels good. Obviously I’m playing better,” he said. “I’m able to do a lot of things better than I’ve been doing lately. It’s a work in progress. It’s getting there. It feels better but it’s still not finished.”

Players on five over and worse will not be around for the weekend, with the likes of Dustin Johnson and Graeme McDowell failing to make up for terrible opening rounds.